A letter to my old buddies Kev and Lance - sent with a smile

Dearest Kev and Lance,

these past weeks I have been venturing to our jungles at the most Northern part of the island.
About 200 to 300 feet in the air above the sea. Early part of our Northern Range.
Takes about 2 and a half hours to get there, mostly because the road was developed off of
donkey tracks.
Very few potholes, by the way.

Lots of trees, immortelles in bloom now, valley and mountain types, dull orange, to Chinese vermilion
for the mountain types.
Tall graceful trees and squat heavy built giants. [ the squat ones were my inspiration for Sageretia theesan designs ]
The guardians of the Cocoa trees.

Winds are pleasant, and the temperature is in the 80's deg.F [ 26 deg.C or so ]

San Fernando where I live is hilly and very cool presently. Lots of breezes.
Trouble is to go north, I have to travel through the flatlands and take a good deal
of sun.
So my friends as expected I have heat rash again.

As I type to you, I am applying a menthol crystal enhanced refresher lotion so it
goes ice cold on the body. My own concoction.
Then a cream of 100 % UV blocker.
The cream seems to de-activate the red bumps.

It is a pain, at times being a Eurasian, I will always have a slight tan during winter,
according to my Irish friends, but I have very little ability to handle heavy sunlight.
Even at this time of the year when the sun is still mild.

Still my research into Cocoa, must go on.

Bearing many new scratches and cuts from the wait-a-minute vines of the forest
your wimpy friend,
Khaimraj Bwana

* BUT I did find a new tree to Bonsai -------- flowers purple. Heh heh

Oh the pain, the pain - Dr. Smith - rather the itch, the itch

I'm German-Irish, with a little Native American and English sprinkled in.....
I get a sunburn walking past a street light....

Oh Dear, young Khaimraj...shall Dr. Smith rub some lotion on you....hhmmmm?

This Cocoa is still on the tree, right?

Salutations, my friend!

yeah... i'm german/nordic... 'nuff said !

watch out for that dr. smith though...
he seems to lose control of where his fingers go once they're lotioned up !



khai - i love the descriptions of your island... as a mater of fact i thought of you last night when i was having a brandy old fashioned (a wisconsin staple) and one of the ingredients is bitters, which i noticed are made in trinny & bago !!!

were i wealthy, i would love to visit you and explore the islands... and damn the sun ! i will dress as a sheikh !

make bitters not oil !!!

Lance,

I had to take a step back from laughing, your reference to cocoa on the tree - Trini lingo - cocoa is what mummys and daddys use to describe
politely, other hangings.
In fact when you get a beer belly or fat belly, the immortelle tree protects the cocoa [ tree ]   is what will be remarked to you.

Cocoa is harvested twice a year. From our 300 year old cross - the Trinitario - mucho flavour.

Kevin,

when it is finished [ see image ], you can come for 6 months, no visa needed, purchase up to an acre of land and stay.
Cost is - you should have an international licence for driving, we are on the wrong side of the road, and pay for a 100 lb
cylinder of cooking gas.

House is to be solar powered.

Lance  can hang out with you, 4 small bedrooms and an apartment next door.
.
Now what is the problem with my quote ?
Poor Dr, Smith.
I used to enjoy that show  
Laters
Khaimraj


back a while ago, not sure of date. Too many shade trees, no way to shoot another image

while i could not be away from my trees for 6 months, i'm sure one of AAC MKE guys would tree sit for a week...

more travelling before i die is high on the bucket list !

do you have a giant manta ray population ?
even a migratory one... ?

snorkeling with the giant mantas is also on the list... 2 birds, 1 stone.

Kevin,

the only time I have snorkeled is when I was at Bucco Reef in Tobago and I was about 9 or so.
I tend to shore fish.
However I can happily check for you.

By the way, you may have to do that in Tobago, as our waters are darker green due to ochre sands, still clear just
not blue. Also even with high tide, our beaches are mostly shallow for very long distance out into the sea.
You can go very far as kneecaps go.

You can also turtle watch.

Forgive me, I haven't done much of the Tourist type stuff, I grew up spending Easter and Summer holidays at Mayaro.
Beach zone for miles. In old wooden houses and memories of mother in her hair net, swiping bats with brooms
Don't worry, women folk at 5" 0" tend to miss high targets.

Let me know what else you would like to do.
Laters
Khaimraj

* Very low shark situation - the Orinoco bathes us in fresh water.

dont knock yourself out too much there, khai... out of curiosity i checked on flight costs, and i would need a good windfall to be able to afford it... not out of the question... just nothing i can look to in the next year or so...

Kevin,

take the Tamale special by train down through mountains and get off at Venezuela, you catch
a fishing boat over [ pirogue ] only 7 miles to Trinidad.

Yes, I will need two or three years to finish as I have a second house planned for that area on
the other end of the property.
This one comes with normal electrics, about the same size different design, to be rented.
So that one will pay to maintain both.

They will be separated by a waterfall and stream, which you can't see in the photo.
That way my artist friends can recover in peace, as the place was built for tired minds.

Of course if what is being done in Toco takes off it might take 3 or 4 more years.
Another structure at Toco, way larger but was left by the previous owners unfinished and way over decorated.

Is it not great that we are both the same age
Though you have more hair

Stay well.
Laters.
Khaimraj [ Happy Birthday to me ]

* An Artist friend on your side sent a bag of green clay, just got it, can't wait to make something.

beer city snake wrote:while i could not be away from my trees for 6 months, i'm sure one of AAC MKE guys would tree sit for a week...

more travelling before i die is high on the bucket list !

do you have a giant manta ray population ?
even a migratory one... ?

snorkeling with the giant mantas is also on the list... 2 birds, 1 stone.

Kev...You know where to do that, right? An easy hop. Standing on the sea floor, lights pointing up at the feeding rays. Makes me think of Kleig lights. Anybody remember those? Shafts of light marching across the sky.
Back to the rays. never in a million years.

Bruce Winter wrote:

beer city snake wrote: snorkeling with the giant mantas is also on the list... 2 birds, 1 stone.

Kev...You know where to do that, right? An easy hop. Standing on the sea floor, lights pointing up at the feeding rays. Makes me think of Kleig lights. Anybody remember those? Shafts of light marching across the sky.
Back to the rays. never in a million years.

are you suggesting hawaii bruce ?
the kleig light show sounds more like a scuba experience (standing on the sea floor)
i only know how to snorkel

Bruce Winter wrote:Back to the rays. never in a million years.

not sure what you meant there at the end...

This one:https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=D5rbAX9M148

And I meant not in a million years would I do this. But that's just me.

ooohhh man bruce... yes indeed... thats what i would like to see in person...
except from the surface and during the day... those kelp forests look stunning too...